Laptops have tons of power these days, but none of their upgrades have overcome a universal truth: touchpads are terrible for gaming. So to truly enjoy what your laptop’s capable of, you’ll want a separate gaming mouse—and fortunately there’s plenty available on the market that will fill the bill nicely.
For laptop mice we considered a few factors: portability, ease of use for storage, battery life and form factor.
The best overall gaming mouse for laptops
Razer Viper Wireless
The combination of accessibility, performance and design is what gives the Razer Viper Wireless the crown here. It’s a relatively light wireless mouse at 74 grams without the perforated honeycomb design, which is a bonus for the trypophobia sufferers among us.
Borrowing the ambidextrous design of the Viper (and Viper Mini), the Viper Wireless comes with Razer’s optical switches and a 20K optical sensor that rivals anything on the market. It also comes with a convenient charging dock with its own LED lighting strip, and up to 70 hours of battery (if all lighting features are disabled).
The mouse also charges relatively quickly—5 hours of battery for every 10 minutes the Viper Wireless is connected to the dock. The sides of the Viper Wireless also have textured grips, and there are four versions in white, black, Cyberpunk 2077-themed yellow, or rose quartz. (If you’re not picky about color, the black Viper Ultimate is going for an excellent $69.99 right now.)
Runner-up wireless gaming mouse for laptops
Corsair Sabre RGB Pro Wireless
The Corsair Sabre RGB Pro Wireless looks plain with its matte black plastic look, but inside is a surprisingly capable piece of kit with a higher-than-average-polling rate and multiple connectivity options.
Users get three connectivity options on the Sabre RGB Pro Wireless. They can use it as a regular wired mouse, connect it via Bluetooth or use the 2.4GHz wireless dongle with around 60 hours of battery life.
Performance is another strong point of the Sabre RGB Pro Wireless. The 2000Hz polling rate is double most gaming mice on the market — although it’s not as high (or as CPU intensive) as the 8,000Hz polling on the new Razer Viper. But given that many laptops are generally will only have a 144Hz or 240Hz screen, and that most games on a gaming laptop generally aren’t capable of pushing out frames faster than that, the 2000Hz is more than enough for anything you can throw at it.
The Sabre RGB Pro Wireless also includes the Corsair Marksman sensor, going up to 26,000 DPI, and durable Omron switches with a 50-million click life expectancy. And while it’s more expensive than most wired mice, it’s cheaper than Logitech or Razer’s wireless offerings.
Best ultralight gaming mouse for laptops
Cooler Master MM720
Many gamers are moving to ultralight mice to reduce fatigue, especially when playing competitive games like VALORANT or Apex Legends. Cooler Master’s MM720 is one of the lightest mice currently available on the market, but it’s also very well priced.
Like many ultralight mice, the MM720 uses a perforated honeycomb design to reduce weight. The holes are across the back and sides of the mouse, resulting in a unit that weighs only 49 grams.
The MM720 is geared towards right-handed users only. It’s a six-button mouse with a pronounced finger rest on the right side. The finger rest contributes to the large surface area of 105mm x 78mm x 37mm, which is well suited for those with bigger hands.
For an ultralight mouse, the MM720 has decent performance. The PMW 3389 is tried and tested, providing a reasonable 1,000Hz polling rate and up to 16,000 DPI sensitivity. There’s LK optical switches for the lowest
It uses the PixArt PMW 3389 sensor with up to 16,000 DPI sensitivity and a 1,000Hz polling rate. The buttons use LK optical switches for lower input lag, too. The only main downside is that it’s wired, which can be a hassle if you can’t stand cords with your laptop. Still, you’ll be hard pressed to find a mouse this light, and with this much quality, at this price point.
Best RGB-lit gaming mouse for laptops
ROCCAT Kone Pro
ROCCAT’s Kone Pro has very distinct RGB lighting to set it apart. Instead of having light strips on the side or the logo, it has internal lighting that only illuminates the mouse buttons.
Build-wise, the Kone Pro is very light despite its solid aluminum scroll wheel. The Kone Pro uses a honeycomb shell to lower its overall weight to 66 grams, but the internals aren’t exposed to dust and dirt like other ultra lightweight offerings.
The Kone Pro has a simple ergonomic design for right-handed users, and the company’s Owl-Eye PAW3370 sensor is good and reliable. Roccat’s optical Titan switches provide longer durability and lower response times, and the sensor supports up to 19,000 DPI.
Along with a PhantomFlex cable and pure PTFE mouse feet, the Kone Pro also supports Nvidia’s Reflex technology. It’s one of the few mice that works with the latency detection system, although you’ll need a Nvidia Reflex-capable monitor to take advantage of the feature.
The Kone Pro’s not just a good looking mouse, but it’s also a reliable performer with a comfortable shape that won’t break the bank. If you do want to spend a bit extra to ditch the cable, however, Roccat also has a wireless version available in the Kone Pro Air.
Other great options for laptop gaming mice:
There’s no shortage of competition in the gaming mice category. If you’re still not convinced by the above, here’s some alternatives you might want to consider:
- Logitech G Pro Wireless: One of the best gaming wireless on the market with superb battery life, a reliable shape and an ambidextrous design. It’s also expensive, but if you wait for a good deal the G Pro Wireless is hard to beat.
- Pulsar Xlite Wireless: While not as well-known as Razer, Corsair, Logitech or some of the other brands, Pulsar have been making some excellent gaming peripherals for a while. The Xlite Wireless is a great option if you want that ultralight honeycomb design in a more ergonomic chassis akin to the original Microsoft Intellimouse 3.0 (the first gaming mouse with an optical sensor).
- Ninjutso Origin One X Wireless Ultralight: Want that ergonomic shape but can’t deal with the holes? The Origin One X Wireless is basically the mandatory choice, especially with its features: 66 grams of weight, a solid PAW 3335 sensor, USB-C charging, virgin PTFE mouse feet and Kailh GM8.0 switches that last up to 80 million clicks. The battery life is a little bit lower than competitors, however, at only 48 hours.
- Steelseries Rival 3 Wireless: Want a mouse without the cords and the longest possible battery life? The Rival 3 is hard to pass up. Not only is it super affordable—retailing at only $49.99, although Amazon has it for $29.88 over Christmas—but the Rival 3 is rated for over 400 hours of usage.